How do I get my name on that list of people supporting gay rights?

Uhh, Bill, that list would be of those who signed up for banning gays' civil rights to live as a family. Please don't go there.

I read that as Bill asking to be on an opposition list.

How do I get my name on that list of people supporting gay rights?

There's a couple of things you can do to show your support of the Oregon Equality Act and the Oregon Family Fairness Act.

You can go to the Basic Rights Oregon Website They have a form where you can promise to vote against any ballot measure which would repeal the Oregon Equality act and the Oregon Family Fairness Act.

You can also go to the Multnomah County Democrats Central Committtee meeting this Thursday evening. The pledge forms showing your support will be availble there as well as a speaker from Basic Rights Oregon providing an update.

Yet another option for any registered democrat supporting the fair and equal treatment of all Oregonians, regardless of thier sexual orientation, is to become a member of the increasingly growing DPO GLBT Caucus

Lastly, but certainly not the least and definitely preaching to the choir, is to get active within the Democratic Party! Democrats truly do value all families!

Democrats truly do value all families!

Then why do most Democrats support civil unions - a non-portable, limited, second class package of civil rights and benefits - and oppose marriage equality?

(Answer: Because most Democrats still pander to the religious, folks who think the world was created mostly for straight human voters by the Great and Powerful Oz...)

Oregon Bill got the answer to his own question wrong. Civil unions for non-traditonal relationships is the best we can do, not because we have to pander to conservatives, but because we live in a democracy and have to work out solutions to problems that everyone can abide.

I have to agree with Ed on this one. Yes, Civil Unions/Domestic Partnerships are not equal to Federal Marriage. This is true. Most of us know this.

However, I am not one of those gay guys that wants "All or Nothing." I will take what I can get to get the ball rolling. Just as in MA (though they have marriage in name, it is also NON transferable, nor Federal), once people see that the sky will not fall and the mythical "god" will not be angry, then more people will change their tune.

Since I invariably seem to attract liberal attackers, this is your signal to open fire as I cloak away. :)

why do most Democrats support civil unions

Good point and one that I wrestle with. But at the end of the day, specifically today, I do believe that most democrats do value all families. When I say Democrats, I'm talking about party folk, not candidates specifically.

Personally, I'm not so sure Dem Candidates are pandering to religous folk is accurate. Polls are showing an increasing number of voters are in favor of equal rights across the board. A majority are in favor of non-discrimimation, hate crimes legisaltion, and against DADT, which all of the candidates for president are fully in support. The polls are showing an increase in support of civil unions/domestic partnerships, but still not solidly in support of full marriage equality. Which is reflected in the candidate's positions regarding "marriage equality".

Looking back and looking at the present, a lot of progress has been made. Where has that progress come from? Certainly not the GOP. It's come from Dems and continues to steadlily come from democrats and to their credit, the next generation coming of age. I always try to remember that the issue of true equal rights is an argument and that those we argue with are quite resolved in their arguments that they are correct in thier beliefs. I also need to be aware of the sizable number of people who are caught in the cross fire having to examine their conscience about something they have no reason to personally experience. Many are the people who basically have the "live and let live" just don't throw it in my face folks. They are the ones that can understand the need for non-discrimation, hate crime legislation, ending DADT and are OK with civil unions. However, the "M" word is still evokes an uneasiness for whatever reason.

Implied, in your questioning of democrats lack of support for marriage equality and pandering to the relgious folk is the question of why should any GLBT voter support the democratic party.

Here's what I feel. Aside from my opinions I've stated, there is another opinion I hold to be true which is not often talked about when it comes to this topic of discussion. That opinion is that GLBT people are not single issue, narrow minded, voters. GLBT voters are also seriously concerned with health care, education, the economy, the war in Iraq, national security, defending the constitution as much if not more so than any other patriotic american. One only needs to remember the passage of Measure 36 in 2004. There was lots of talk of GLBT people moving to Canada or atleast out of Oregon to states like Vermont. That did not happen. Instead we stayed and are fighting. We're getting more and more activly engaged in the political process everyday, shoulder to shoulder with every other democrat, not just here in Oregon, but across the nation.

Civil unions for non-traditonal relationships is the best we can do, not because we have to pander to conservatives, but because we live in a democracy and have to work out solutions to problems that everyone can abide.

I don't have a "non-traditional relationship..."

My marriage is recognized in Canada, Massachusetts, South Africa and much of secular Europe, and my family (two working spouses, two kids) is a heckuva lot more "traditional" than poor Larry Craig and his wife, children and assorted restroom foot tappers, or your average Catholic priest, "married" to some "holy spirit" while schtupping the altar boys...

Give me a break

The solution is clearly to prevent religious prejudice (i.e., my invisible deity hates blonds) from restricting basic civil protections guaranteed every American citizen in our Enlightenment constitution (blonds can't assemble).

Civil unions for EVERYONE, and if you'd like to follow that up with a blessing from a sexually repressed, scientifically illiterate, self-hating hypocrite with a collar, that's your American right.

But we won't value families with equal protection until "inclusive" Democrats quit pandering to the prejudices of the Jebus crowd. (and I'm not holding my breath)

Oregon Bill will convince no one with arguments that obviously deny plain truth. Recognizing a gay partnership as non-traditional in no way refutes its legitimacy in any but the most closed of minds. Get over yourself, sir!

I must admit though that relationships built on self-loathing and deceit, such as Sen. Craig's seems to be, is probably a lot more traditional than most would care to admit...

lestatdelc is firmly on the side of making a clearly understood term into a foray into bizzaro-world.

The term used to describe relationships which is recognized in today's world (where I live) as describing the status-quo is "traditional". Using that term which is in popular vernacular endorses no particular judgement on the relationship as socially acceptable, only as one that was not recognized as such in the past. Facts on the ground, man. Get used to it.

Facts on the ground, man. Get used to it.

Two married dads with kids. Two married moms with kids. A married mom and dad with kids. Single moms and single dads with kids - some who might someday marry another adult, too.

Facts on the ground (at my sons' elementary school) Get used to it, Ed.

Much better (and more inclusive, productive, and authentically American) than those narrow, sad, lonely, self-hating Mormon, Christian, and Muslim restrooms...

Every American is due basic civil protections (it's in our secular Constitution), no matter what Zeus, Jebus, Jehova, Mohammed, Baal or Kris Kringle has to say... (Or Ed!)

And it's too bad the Democrats don't have any balls.

Oregon Bill, your post is filled with vitriol which you should save for those who mean you harm. Nothing I have said should engender such hatred. Yet is you who lectures me on tolerance; how ironic.

Uhh, Bill, that list would be of those who signed up for banning gays' civil rights to live as a family. Please don't go there.

Big Ooops, there. Read too fast and jumped to wrong conclusion much too quickly.

Unfortunately, gay marriage as a political issue is a lot like abortion and gun rights. For a significant percentage of voters it is a linchpin issue. I swear I don't know why. Perhaps these folks prefer that gay people have anonymous liaisons in airport restrooms.

Anyway, candidates who play it safe are afraid to take a principled stand on th issue. That's politics. Not all Democratic candidates are so timid, though.

For a significant percentage of voters it is a linchpin issue. I swear I don't know why.

It's called RELIGION. Evidence free belief. "Faith." Uninformed prejudice. Ignorance.

And the sooner the Democrats stop genuflecting, the better we'll all be.

Achieving your agenda would be easier if this were a dictatorship, as long as you were the dictator, eh, O. Bill?

Oregon Bill:

I agree with you. Providing civil unions for same-sex couples and marriages for opposite-sex couples is unacceptable. I support civil unions as the best we can do until Measure 36 is repealed. (Or, perhaps, we could get rid of "marriage" as a state institution altogether and make civil unions for all couples.)

However, not all Democrats oppose marriage equality! Our governor, for example, opposed Measure 36.

Also, not all religious groups are opposed to same-sex marriage. Measure 36 put some religious beliefs over others.

Hi PID -

Thanks for your post!

But, no offense - I couldn't care less about religious arguments either for or against my human worth and value, because my civil rights do not depend on anyone's supernatural beliefs.

I am an American citizen, and based on our Enlightenment constitution (written by PEOPLE, not by Jebus, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Mohammed, or Zeus), my family is due the same legal rights and responsibilities as everyone else...

The only "arguments" against gay marriage are religious (i.e., evidence free, supernatural, "faith-based" prejudice - my god or goddess hates gay people, they are an abomination, they are not fully human like me - whatever).

And while I suppose it's nice that some religious leaders/followers believe that the Easter Bunny thinks I'm real and human, too - my rights DO NOT rest upon the opinions of anyone's Easter Bunny.

And the Democrats (including Ted K, who barely mentioned Measure 36 when it counted, and whose Attorney General failed to lift a finger to defend this successful attack on state constitutional guarantees of equal protection) are quite willing to sacrifice my family in order to pander to the Easter Bunny crowd.

Have you seen "Hairspray?"
It's still 1962 for lesbians and gays